One For The Road

Margot Gilman, article editor at Ladies Home Journal, visits The Early Show to suggest educational games for families to play when they are on the road and can't bear to hear the question "Are we there yet?" one more time.

The entire family can opt to play a game together or they might prefer to play solitary games that give everyone some quiet time.

Games to Play When Traveling with Kids

The Car Next Door
Invent stories about the people in the car next to yours. What do you think they do for work? What's their favorite food? Where do they go on vacation? Get into lots of details, such as whether they snore loudly or are afraid of spiders. Give them names, hobbies, pets, etc.

Alphabet
Starting with A, find words on signs that begin with each alphabet letter. The first person might spot a billboard with the word "all" on it. The next person might spot the word "brake" on a road sign.

The State Game
Make a list of all 50 states on a sheet of paper. Make as many copies of the list as needed while traveling. Cross off states when you see them on signs, license plates, bumper stickers. Make rules about winning; for example, the first person to get 20 states wins.

Where Do You Do It?
One person mimics a sound, and everyone tries to guess where this sound is performed. For example, you could make the sound of computer keys tapping, and the answer would be "in an office." This game can degenerate quickly into bathroom humor, which may be why kids love it.

Building Words
Take turns saying letters and building words together. Someone starts with any letter, maybe an R. The next person thinks of a word, such as rake, and says A. The next person thinks of a word, such as rabbit, and says B. Each player must have a real word in her head before speaking. If you challenge someone and they don't have a word, they're out.

I Spy
Someone says, "I spy with my little eye something green." Whoever guesses correctly what green thing the eye spies takes the next turn. You could limit the items to what's in the vehicle. Or, you could get tricky and play 'I Spied,' selecting items that you've already passed.

20 Questions
One player thinks of a famous person, place, or thing. Everyone else gets to ask the player 20 questions, which must be answered "yes" or "no." For example, "Does it know how to read?" is a valid question, but "What's its favorite book?" is not. Whoever guesses correctly gets a turn to think up something.

Make a trip journal
Keep track of things you see on your trip. Draw a picture, write about it, or paste souvenirs.

Let your children have a map
Prevents the question of "Are we there yet?" while they learn geography an dhone map-reading skills.